High school students acting like racist fools... on the internet. Welcome to the 21st century. I've been following the Fox Chapel Area High School controversy over at Fallout Central for several weeks now. A group of students at the Fox Chapel, PA school created an Anti-Asian Facebook Group—basically, a group for students who hate Asians. Apparently it was supposed to be funny. It has since been taken down, due to all the negative attention Fallout Central has brought to the students and the school. Just another example of how privileged white kids have no grasp of what it means to be the target of prejudice and stereotypes, and somehow find it perfectly harmless to create an online group that rallies anti-Asian sentiment. It's this kind of thinking that eventually leads to anti-Asian harrassment and violence. Follow Fallout Central's chronicling of the controversy here, here and here.
The issue has finally reached mainstream press, with several news outlets covering the controversy: Fox Chapel students created anti-Asian Web site. And here: Officials decry 'Anti-Asians" page by Pa. high school students. I'm glad all of this has caught the attention of a wider audience, though I do have to wonder why it was this particular group that finally got people talking. There have actually been several questionable Asian-related groups since Facebook's inception, but this seems to be the one that's making news. Big props to Fallout Central for spearheading this response.
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